Wound Awareness Week 2026
Wound Awareness Week 2026: SOS: Save Our Skin! Raising awareness of chronic wounds, skin protection, prevention, education and early intervention.
Professor Fiona Wood AO joined Wound Awareness Week 2026, held from 28 September to 4 October, as an Ambassador, helping shine a light on chronic wounds and the importance of prevention, education and access to trusted information. This year’s theme, SOS: Save Our Skin!, encouraged Australians to better understand, protect and care for their skin.
Watch Fiona’s Wound Awareness Week message below.
Wound Awareness Week 2026
During Wound Awareness Week, the Be Wound Aware Education Series was officially launched in Hobart, with Fiona joining Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care Rebecca White MP, Senator Carol Brown, clinicians and community representatives.
The free online series gives Australians access to clear, trusted information about wound care. Through short videos presented by wound care professionals, it covers caring for wounds at home, recognising warning signs, wound prevention and healthy skin, and first aid essentials.
For Fiona, making this knowledge accessible to consumers, families and carers is an important part of improving wound care.
“Knowledge is power when it comes to chronic wounds, so if we can empower carers and consumers with good, solid evidence that is easily accessible, then why wouldn’t we?”
The resources are free, easy to follow and can be completed at your own pace.
Protecting skin through prevention
As part of Wound Awareness Week, Fiona hosted a skin tears roundtable in Melbourne, bringing together more than 20 clinicians, researchers, patients and carers to discuss the prevention and management of skin tears. Prevention and early recognition were central to the discussion, with a strong focus on skin care, health literacy and giving people clear information to help protect their skin. Fiona challenged the group to consider how early education should begin, asking whether the fundamentals of skin protection should be taught alongside basic first aid in schools.
Across Wound Awareness Week, the message was clear: prevention, education and early action matter. From launching new resources for consumers and carers to bringing clinicians, researchers, policymakers and people with lived experience together, the week highlighted the value of protecting our skin, recognising wounds early and knowing when to seek care. As Fiona reinforced throughout the week, improving health literacy and access to trusted information gives people greater confidence to understand their skin and take an active role in their care.
